Fulling mill



M w a w i a h v "m H A n n rl IIMmlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll-n H- \llll I Wz 01). N MILL,

a: ma

(No Model.)

0 4 9 4 2 .nw I

UNITED STATES PATENT (Marries.

. WILLIAM owoon, orwasnmeroiv, DISTRICT or COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR ro THE EICKEMEYER FELTING COMPANY, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

FULLI'NG-MILL.

SPECIFICATION forming part. of Letters Patent No. 249,440, dated November 8, 1881.

1 Application filed August24, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM-O. WOOD, of

t the city of Washington and District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fulling-Mills; and I do hereby declare that the following specification, taken iniconnection with the drawings furnished and forming a part of the same, is a clear, true,

and complete description of the severalfcatures of myinvention.

A mill embodying my improvements is applicableto general service in fulling or felting fabricsof various kinds; but. I have devised the same with special reference to felting or fullinghat-bodies and other goods of a similarly delicate nature.

Fulling-mills as heretofore organized for the 1 purposes suggested maybe fairly divided into three general classes,'as follows: heater-mills, having hammers which beat upon the goods; roller-mills, having rollers between which the goods in mass are passed and repassed; and

cylinder-mills, involving skeletonized rolls or endless belts,constit utin g a falling-bed, within which the goods are merely tumbled in mass.

Mills belonging to each of these classes have been variously constructed and arranged, but without materially changing their general mode of operation so far as my knowledge extends. Mills of each of these classes possess certain desirable capacities when viewed with reference to particular results, but they'are accompanied in eachcase with certain disad:

vantages when considered with reference to obtaining certain other desirable results.

Broadlystatechthe prime object of my improvements is tocomhine in one mill sucha combination of elements as will enable it to operate in felting orfullin g delicate goods with all or many of the desirable peculiarities of operations incident to mills belonging to each of the classesrcferred to, and at the same time to obviate many of their well-known disadvantants in handling the goods incident to their ages, among which may be stated the liability of injury to delicate goods by cutting, unduly ahrading, andstraining, as in an ordinary beater-mill, the labor and expense of attendrepeated passage through the roller-mills, and the tardiness in operation common to the cylinder-mill.

I recognize the fact that mills operating upon circulation of welt-heated water or falling-liq.

uid within the bed, and also for the application of live steam to the contents of a bed in a man ner highly favorable to good results in fulling or felting, and the apparatus devised by me for this purpose is applicable to fulling-mills of any class.

After describing in detail several mills embodying more or less of my improvements, the features deemed novel will be designated in the several claims hereunto annexed.

Referring to the four sheets of drawin gs, Figure 1, Sheet 1,is a central longitudinal vertical section of a mill embodying the principal features of my invention. Fig. 2, Sheet 1,,is a transverse vertical section of the same. Fig.

3, Sheet 1, is a horizontal section of a portion of a mill-tank andmy apparatus for circulatin g water and steam. Fig. 4, Sheet 2, is a longitudinal vertical section of a mill of somewhat different construction, but embodying certain features of my invention. Fig. 5, Sheet 2, is an end view of the same,withtheadjacent end of the tank removed. Fig. 6, Sheet 3, is a lat: eral vertical section thereof on line y, Fig. 4. Fig. 7, Sheet 3, is a central longitudinal verticertain features of my invention. Figs. 8 and 9, Sheet 3, are detail views, illustrating the construction of the cylinder-heads and bars suitable for the machine, Fig. 7. Fig. 10, Sheet 4, is a central longitudinal vertical section of a mill similar to Fig.1, but having a doublebed and heaters of a diiferentcharacter. Fig. 11, Sheet 4, is a lateral vertical section of Fig.

cal section of another form of mill embodying 10 on line as. Fig. 12, Sheet 4, isa sectional view of the striking end of a heater.

I will first describe the machine shown at Figs. 1, 2, and 3. r

The tank A may he of any suitable form and size and of such depth as will enable the goods to be submerged, or nearly so, if desired, and. also with sufficient capacity to hold an ample.

supply of water or suitable falling-liquid beneath the bed, for maintaining a continuous circulation, as hereinafter described, whenever an actual submerging of the goods is undesirable.

The fulling-bed B is composed of somewhat flexible wooden or metallic bars a, secured to endless belts b or chains, as in prior well-known English machines. In this instance the belts I) are preferably composed of rubber and canvasandembodyinglongitudinalstrandsol'wire, which will render them practically non-extensible, and to these belts the bars a are so riveted as to bring them next to the surface of the driving-cylinder c, and in contact at each side with the largest periphery of the bed-drum d, said drum revolving with the endless bed. The bed-drum d is rotatively mounted upon a loose or fixed trunnion or axis, 6, which istubular and'perforated. The bed-drum is smaller in the center than at either end, as shown, so as to afford a space between it and the endless bed, which is deepest at the center of the bed. The drum is also radially perforated, as at d, the perforations registering, as. the drum revolves, with corresponding perforations in the hollow trunnion e for the introduction of steam or hot water, as hereinafter explained. flanges or ends of the bed-drum are clad with an elastic cushion, 0?, after the manner of a wheel-tire, and the bars a are seated thereon.

If desired, guides may be employed for maintaining the bars in close contact with the peripheries of the flanges adjacent to the line at which the beaters operate.

Suspended from a suitable rook-shaft are two beaters, G, which are forcibly vibrated by a set of tappet-arms, f, on a suitably-driven shaft in a manner well understood. As the blows are given while the fulling-bed is in motion, I provide for the heaters a roller-toe, g, the periphery of which is also preferably cushioned, as seen in Fig. 12, so that it may strike with spring-like action against the bars, which responding to the'blow, being themselves flexible and springy, and also seated on the cushioned flanges of the bed-drum, communicate a percussive blow against the contents of the mill, which are supported on said bed.

As thus far described, it will be readily obvious that while the mill is in action the con-, tents of the bed will be raised and tumbled backward] y by the bed, and will be also caused tojtumble toward the center of the bed because of the concavity of the bed-drum, and be gradually squeezed during their downward and released during their upward passage, and that just prior to their release (or just after, according to the direction in which the bed is rotated) they will be beaten without abrasive action from the beaters.

The construction and arrangement of the bed, the bed-drum, and the beatersmay be widely varied without departure from my in- The.

For the first time I have, as I believe, applied to fulli'ng-mills the principles involved in the steam siphon-pump, and I am not aware that they have ever before been applied in any connection as a means for effectively heating water and the circulation thereof.

I rely upon a steam-nozzle for usefully delivering live steam, when desired, alternating at will with a continuous circulation of water,

meantime heating it in transit. The details of this portion of the apparatus are shown in Fig. 3. The steam-nozzle it enters the pipe IL within the tank near the bottom and at one end thereof, and said pipe is provided with a series of openings, h in such relation to the nozzle that the water in which said pipe is submerged is drawn inward and forced through the pipe h to the vertical pipe 7L outside the tank; thence to the original spray-pipe h, which overlies the falling-bed. The spray-pipe k is perforated on its lower side, the apertures being increased in size as their location approaches the outer end of the pipe to secure areasonably uniform downward discharge of water upon the contents of the bed. A cock at h enables the discharge of water to be graduated at will. For cutting olf the water and the delivery of steam alone the nozzle may obviously be so arranged as to be advanced; but I prefer a simple rotative register or sleeve valve, h, which surrounds the pipe h at the openings h, and is I also provided with correspondin gopenings,and with a worm-gear which is engaged by the vertical worm-shaftlfl, readily accessible for rotating the sleeve and cutting off the water-supply. As the steam would do but little good if projected downward from pipe h, I have employed the hollow perforated trunnion e by connecting it at its outer end with the vertical pipe so that when the cock If and the sleeve-valve v h are closed, live steam may be delivered through the radial ducts 61 directly among the hats or other articles within the bed. With this arrangement or system of heating and wetting an extremely wide range of service may be performed. The tank may be well filled with water, and the nozzle-injector employed for heating and circulating purposes only; or the water in the tank need only well cover pipe h, and be made to continuously flow through and over the contents of the bed, and when the tank is thus charged or empty the water may be dispensed with and only live steam applied. For properly guarding the sleeve valve and nozzle from the receipt of fiber and other obstructive matter it is housed within a large wire-gauze casing, h This'system ofheating water and circulating the same is of more or less value in all fulling-mills, regardless of their scribed, so longasthe jet of steam becapable of .inducinga vacuum atthe rear. thereof for 'drawingin theliquid and thenforcin g the same through the circulating-pipes, and the parts i bealsoso arranged that either steam or hot water maybe delivered upon or through the contents of the falling-bed. Should it ever be deemed desirable, theheating capacity of the nozzle may be supplemented by a steam-coil in the bottom of the tank.

The millsho'wn in Figs. 4, 5, and dissimilar to thatlpreviously described, but differs therefrom mainlyin having no bed-drum between which andthe bed the goods arepassed. The

I endle'ss bed in this instance is composed of endless beltsb, one near each side, and to their l outerisurfacesthebars a are riveted, so that the belts lie between them and the disks 1',

which, like the corresponding surfaces of the bed-drum, are preferably clad with cushions, as before described. Beaters, substantially like those before described, are here employed,

of which theremay be one or more, according to thewidth of the bed. The circulation of hot water is effected in this mill as in Fig. 1; and, if desired, oneor both of thetrunnionsof disks 2' maybe tubular and connected with the vertical outside pipe and employed with good results for distributing water or steam, as in the other mill. In operation this mill will be somewhat less rapid in fulling than the one previously described Themill shown inyFigs. 7 andS is of the cylindrical type. The tank, water heating and circulatingapparatus, and heaters are substantially as heretofore described, except that the latter are arranged to deliver their blows against a lower portion of the bed, so that they will strike upwardly. The bars a maybe variously mounted but I prefer that the cylinder heads be cushioned peripherally, andthe bars secured by bolts which pass loosely through them, and snugly through the cushion into the heads, as clearly indicated in Fig. 9. The cylinder-heads may, however, be radially recessed from the periphery and the bars partially located in the recesses, secured by bolts, as heretofore, and cushioned against the blows of the beater b'y brass spiral springs which surround the bolts and are seated upon the inner ends of the recesses. In this mill the cylinderfheads have tubular trunnions, whichare capped inside the cylinder with a perforated cup-shaped plate, is, which serves as a rose-jet for thedelivery of either hot water or steam upon and among the contents of the bed."

"The mill shown in Figs. 10 and 11 has the same system of steam and water distribution before described in connection with Fig.1.

This bed-drum has, however, a central flange, virtually dividing the falling-bed into two compartments, and overhanging this flange or rim :is a pendent partition, l, which prevents the goods from being caught between said flange and the bed while tumbling from one side to those previously described, and although it may em body the flexibly-oushiol'led bars, I prefer for this mill, or any one having a very narrow bed, an endless bed composed'of a manyply fabric of cotton or linen-such, for instance, as is woven on the well-known Baker-loom,

the other. The endless bed on is unlike any of and with occasional strands of interwoven straight wire warp, (copper or tinned iron or steel,) and also reenforced opposite thecente'r I of each bed, as at m, with a suitable band for receiving the blows of the heaters, of which one ortwo may be employed foreachbed or compartment thereof. In this mill I have organized beaters'which operate on the springram principle, with obvious and well-known means for adjusting either the powerof the springs or the length of the stroke; and the heaters previously described may also be provided with meoh anism for graduating thet'orce of theblows applied thereby, after the manner heretofore employed in the certain beater-mills containing the ordinary bed. In this mill the endless bed not being composed in part ofba'rs cannot so readily free itself of liquids discharged therein, and therefore I provide the end flanges of the bed-drum with numerous lateral apertures, a, through which liquid freely passes back into the tank. In its operation the rolls on the ends of, the rams maybe arranged to press firmly inwardly when not in the act of striking, thus compressing the central portion of the contents of the bed and contributin g to the fullin g operation. With a bed of this character elasticrod beaters may beemployed to strike the bed lengthwise of the heaters but in such case they should be downwardly bent or curved and arranged to strike against the bed with their curved surfaces, in order to operate smoothly and without undue abrasion of the beater-surface of the bed.

In the construction of my mills I contemplate the employment of such materials as may prove best suitable, having due reference to economyand durability, and the sameis true of mechanical details in construction and arrange ment of the several parts; and while I prefer a mill embodying all of the several features of my invention, portions thereof may be separ ately employed to advantagein other mills, as-

i do

be sufficient to cause the contents to effectually change their position in the bed.

I am well aware that it is not new to employ, in connection with a heater or heaters and a fulling-bed, one or more continuously-moving endless aprons for containing articles to be felted; butas heretofore employed said aprons extended with their lower ends into the fulling-bed between the heaters and beater-heads, as shown, for instance, in the United States Letters Patent of Hopkins, July 22, 1856, No. 15,375.

Havingthns dcsciibed my invention, I claim as new and. desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, substantially as hereinhef'ore described, of a flexible or yielding fulling-bed, heaters which deliver blows against the outer surface of the bed, and a bed-drum within the bed, between which and the inner surface of said bed articles to be f ulled or felted are alternately compressed and released from pressure, as set forth.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of a rotating flexible fnllingbed, heaters which strike against the outside of the bed, and a drum within the bed.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore described, of an endless moving flexible fulling-bed and heaters which deliver blows against the outer surface ofsaid bed, and th cretaining the whole or a portion of said bed, and

means for continuously circulating water or other falling-liquid from the tank through the bed and its contents, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with a fulling-mill bed, of a water-receptacle, a steam-injector, and suitable pipes and cooks, substantially,as described, whereby said nozzle may be relied upon for continuously circulating water from the tank through the bed and upon itscontents, or for the delivery of steam alone, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, substantially as described, with an endless rotating fulling-bed, which contains and loosely tumbles goods to he felted or failed, of means, substantially as described,for delivering steam in jets within the bed and centrally amongthe contents thereof as they are tumbled by the movement of said bed.

WM. 0. WOOD. Witnesses:

PHILIP F. LARNER, HOWELL BAR'rLE. 

